T-34 Medium Tank
The T-34 is a medium tank that was used by the Soviet Union during WWII and the first production model was the T-34/76 which was actually the German designation for the T-34; the first T-34 production model is also named the model 1940 or even the T-34/76A. It had a crew of four and it was powered by a diesel Model V-2 Engine. The T-34/76 had a top speed of around 32 mph and it could store around 142 gallons of fuel.http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/tanks-medium/t-34-76-1940.asp It also had 2 DT Machine Guns and a 76.2mm main gun. One of these machine guns was mounted in the bow. The T-34/76 could carry 77 main rounds and about 2,400 MG rounds.http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=38 It weighed about 26 tonnes and it was about 5.92m long. The suspension of the T-34/76 was the same as all future variants and it was a Christie suspension system. The armor was about 45mm in the front and back part of the hull and the turret had about 45-40mm of armor. Although in some places the armor was only 15-22mm.The next model, the model 1941 or T-34/76B had thicker armor in most places. These included the turret and the hull which both had around 50-60mm armor. It also had a new F-34 main gun. Other the the difference in armor and the new main gun, the model 1941 was fairly similar to the model 1940. Similarities included the same 500hp engine, the same 76.2mm main gun, and the same maximum speed. Variants Model 1942 and Model 1943 The Model 1942 or T-34/76C came after the model 1941 and it could carry about 135 gallons of fuel. It also had a new weight of about 28 tonnes. However the Model 1942 also was similar to the original and the model 1941 in several different ways. Some of these include it having the same length as both earlier models, another similarity is that the model 1942 has the same F-34 main gun as the model 1941. The model 1943 or T-34/76D had a new hexagonal shaped turret and it also had several improvements made to it which became the subvariants the T-34/76F and the T-34/76E. It could also carry 100 main rounds instead of 77 as the other previous variants had.http://ww2db.com/vehicle_spec.php?q=177 Another difference is a weight of 30 tonnes and increased armor thickness. T-34/85 The T-34/85 was introduced in 1943 and had a crew of 5. It also had a large weight of 32 tonnes and significantly increased armor ranging from 45mm to 90mm.http://www.soviet-empire.com/1/military/tanks/t34/ The T-34/85 even was equiped with a new 85mm main gun and it's length was increased to 8.15m. It had the same engine as the other variants and it also could carry the same amount of ammunition for the MGs. The T-34/85 came in 2 versions which were produced in 1943 and 1944. the 1943 version had the D-5T main gun and the 944 version had the ZiS-S-53 main gun. History The T-34 was first designed by Mikhail Koshkin and was originally designated the A-20 and after later modification the A-32. Finally it was designated the T-34 and it was put into production. It came as a shock to the Germans who invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa that the T-34 was quite capable of combating german tanks. The T-34 and all of it's variants were used widely throughout WWII in many different battles. Some of these include the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Kursk. The key to thier mass production was that the T-34 was simple to assemble and had a relatively low cost to manufacture. However the T-34 had flaws including poor ergonomics. Ergonomics was a problem which was never really fixed throughout the war. German Use T-34s that were captured by German forces were designated Panzerkampfwagen T-34®. There were several changes made to these T-34s including new radio systems and a new commander's cupola.http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-t-34r-soviet-t-34-in-german-service.htm Other changes were made as well such as custom symbols and signs. Some T-34s were even adopted into panzer divisions. References Category:Tanks Category:Soviet Vehicles